Johnson: As nine-game deadline nears, Sean Monahan must pass a final gruelling gauntlet

GEORGE JOHNSON, Calgary Herald10.15.2013

Calgary Flames rookie Sean Monahan has enjoyed some incredible success so far on this young season, but he must pass the final gauntlet of his nine-game NHL exam — a trip through California where some of the NHL’s top centres abide — before securing a spot on the club for the rest of the season.

A hockey equivalent rollcall of the Rack, the Judas Chair, the Stocks and Heretic’s Fork (a particularly nasty bit of business involving well-sharpened pincers engraved with the word “abiuro”, Latin for “I recant”, and hanging suspended from a hook . . . well, you get the idea).

Torture. Utter torture.

“If you’re going to win the Masters,” reasons boss hog Bob Hartley, “you’d rather do it paired with Tiger on Sunday afternoon, right?”

With a call on his 2013-2104 future fast approaching, 19-year-old Calgary Flames’ whiz kid Sean Monahan packs his Coppertone and prepares to face a California Inquisition.

A formidable gauntlet of sizable, savvy, uber-competitive centremen. Among the finest in the trade.

“It’s going to be a good gauge,” agrees Hartley. “A bit unfair, maybe, but that’s because of Monny. Because of the way he’s played so far, the way he’s opened so many eyes, making so many NHL plays.

“For someone so young, he’s been all we could’ve asked for.”

And more.

It’s all happened so quickly. In mere weeks, Monahan has transformed himself into that shining beacon of the future the Flames prayed so hard for this off-season — six points, including four goals, in a 3-0-2 start that’d make Mr. Ripley scratch his head in disbelief has far outstripped anyone’s expectations.

In doing so, he’s managed to capture the public’s imagination, put an uplifting spin on what promised (and still promises, no matter how blissfully bright the beginning) to be an arduous rebuild and helped the big team in this town win hockey games, to boot.

Given his seismic start, the shine the city has taken to him, people hereabouts would, at the moment anyway, consider the option of sending Sean Monahan to junior as no option at all; as nothing less than madness, heresy.

Yet the Flames are obliged to make a call on his turning pro or heading back to the OHL Ottawa 67s after Game 9, which, if he remains a fixture in the lineup, means prior to the Oct. 24th date at Dallas, the game that happens to close out this five-game junket. That call won’t be as straightforward as the local citizenry might believe.

So how he fares over the next week, the three California appointments, quarrelling over the faceoff dot with Stoll, trying to somehow push past Thornton’s Jumbo backside as the big lug shields the puck waiting to make that trademark killer pass, coping with Getzlaf in full swoop, will doubtless factor into the final call.

With rival tacticians Bruce Boudreau, Todd MacLellan and the inimitable Jolly Rancher, Darryl Sutter, having last change on home ice, it’s certain the kid i s certain to spend much of those evenings out against out the top guns.

There’ll be no hiding Mr. Monahan, not that that’s Hartley’s style anyway.

“They’re obviously big guys,” Monahan is saying following Monday’s Thanksgiving practice at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “But they’re smart players, first and foremost. They play more of a mental game than a physical one, I guess. Sure they’re strong on their sticks and tough to play against in that way, but it’s the way they think the game, the plays they make, that makes them all great players.

“Growing up, Thornton was one of my favourites. So it’s gonna be pretty cool, I guess, to go out there against him. Obviously, though, once you step on the ice it’s just a hockey game. You’re competing in the game to win the game.”

So far, said Hartley, the sensitive Monahan issue has not been broached within the Flames’ cocoon. He, general manager Jay Feaster, president of hockey operations Brian Burke and the rest of the hockey-decisions department haven’t sequestered themselves in one room, ordered up multiple helpings of Chinese food, bolted the door and vowed not to emerge until a blood-pact thumbs up or thumbs down on the kid had been agreed upon.

“We know,” jokes Hartley, “how to count to nine. So eventually we’ll have a breakfast, a lunch or a dinner. I don’t know (which), but I’m sure we’re going to be talking about it.”

In a brief sample size, Sean Monahan has proven that he’s not intimidated by the quality of opposition or overawed by his surroundings at this level. And he can guarantee there won’t be any sleepless nights on the road, fussing and fretting about what might or might not happen.

“That’s the route I’m going to try and go. Just try and be the same player I’ve been. Just continue to learn things and build on my game, try and be an everyday pro and let the cards fall where they fall.

“Obviously I want to close out the road trip with the team, but it’s not something I’m thinking about. I just come to the rink and try to do my job every day.

“You look at the teams and some of the players that we’re going up against, it’s going to be a challenge. I’m looking forward to it. I like to play against the best. You want to beat the best. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Fun, rather than fatalism, has been a watchword of this yougottabekiddingme band of Flames. Sean Monahan has been a surprisingly large part of that. He’s already put his stamp on this team. Now he has a week to cement his place.

Getzlaf. Thornton. Couture. Kopitar. Richards. Carter. Stoll.

The California Inquisition awaits.

“This,” acknowledges Hartley, “is a great test for Monny. For our entire team, actually. We’re going into places where it’s not easy to play against teams that are physically imposing. Here’s a quiet kid — I can’t say that he’s shy because he’s very respectful — but in every situation that we’re putting him in, he’s responding with very good efforts and very good results.

“You’re right. We have to make a decision soon. So just by the force of the situation we need to put him there, against guys like you were just mentioning.

“So far Sean Monahan has passed all the tests. Now we’re into the final exams.”

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Johnson: As nine-game deadline nears, Sean Monahan must pass a final gruelling gauntlet

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